Music note finders



June 2l, 1960 Filed Nov. 14, 1957 H. H. ERICKSEN MUSIC NOTE FINDERS 3Sheets-Sheet l INVENIOR.

ATTORNE Y June 21, 1960 H. H. ERlcKsEN MUSIC NOTE FINDERS Filed Nov. 14,1957 NME THE NoTE N93 ak /0\ LINES-- V-SPAGES mlmlolmllol 'UPON Pnlm@ omn i l l l culmina om MATCH STAFF LINES T0 Treble or ase C/lef (Staffmeas. 15mm) t H HE '-6 l-ALSO NAME SHARPS OR FLATS OF KEY SIGNATURE 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HG2 BY g ,I me

ATTORNEY June 21, 1960 H. H. r-:RlcKsEN 2,941,435

MUSIC NOTE FINDERS Filed Nov. 14, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 muon muon KEYSIGNATURES (5ma/ILeer5/l'f1'nof 2 major-c NOTE /0 minof SHARPS on 0 f4INVENT 31 ,26g/ff? gicselz F |G '5 l BY@ z I c F I G.4 ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent C MUSIC NOTE FINDERS Helen H. Ericksen, 199 Keber Court,Richmond, N.Y.

Filed Nov. 14, 1957, Ser. No. 696,411

2 Claims. (Cl. 84-473) This invention relates to note finders especiallyadapted for aiding inexperienced musicians and music pupils to locate orto identify written notes on musical staffs; and is herein illustratedas embodied in a device only a few inches long adapted to be placed onstandard printed pages of music and to be instantly read to indicate thename of any note printed on the music staff.

Most learners of music are puzzled by the first steps of learning how toturn the printed symbols of musical sounds into actions lfor producingthe sounds. They are puzzled because in a piano keyboard five humanfingers must cover seven notes of a piano keyboard, because the linesforming part of the treble clef carry letters and meanings differentfrom the corresponding lines in the bass clef, because some line ineither clef sometimes points to a note called a sharp, and sometimespoints to another note called a flat, because the names of notes such asdo, re, mi, stand for one series of piano keys in one key and foranother and different series of keys in another key, and because nothingvisible provides a reliable aid in visualizing any connection betweenthe Sharps and flats of the written or printed symbols on the staff andthe corresponding piano keys.

In the form of the present invention illustrated, a card, which may beof opaque plastic, about five inches long and about two inches wide,contains a long narrow central window with rulings starting from thewindow edges and lettered at one edge to name the notes on the stafflines and on the other edge to name the notes on the staff spaces.

In the form shown the -window is long enough to usually show both thetreble clef and the bass clef with several ledger lines above and belowthe staff lines of each clef.

The lines at their edge of the window are lettered with the names of thenotes they represent, and the spaces at their edge of the window arelettered with the names of the notes they represent.

Preferably positions of the ledger lines above and below the staff arealso indicated and lettered as well as the positions between thoseledger lines.

In the form shown the names of the notes above and below the staff aremarked along a line offset from the names at the staff, thus clearlyindicating the more unusual notes above and below the staff.

The device preferably carries on its back other information or indiciafor aiding the student or other user.

In the form shown the back of the device shows the Sharps and flats onthe staff for every key in which music may be written, and names the keyat each of the staffs shown, naming, if desired, both the major andminor keys at each staff.

To avoid catching a window edge on the edge of the sheet music, thewindow is preferably covered with a transparent sheet, and, in the formshown, the whole device is covered by extensions of the transparentsheet,

2,941,436 Patented June 21, 1960 thus serving to protect and strengthenthe whole if it is printed cardboard.

It is found that the device illustrated is an extraordinary aid instraightening out in the minds of children most of the complexities ofprinted or written music notation.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows the device, fragmentarily marked, as used on the trebleclef.

Fig. 2 shows on an enlarged scale the face of the device with allnotations.

Fig. 3 shows on the same scale the back of the device with allnotations.

Fig. 4 is a section on broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the form shown the device takes the form of an opaque cardboard body10 long enough to cover and extend beyond the treble clef shown on it at11 and beyond the upper ledger lines such as 112. The body also extendsdownward beyond a typical bass clef 13.

The center of the body 10 is shown as a long somewhat narrow window 14wide enough to display the usual Sharps, such as those shown at 15, Fig.l or, alternatively, the usual ats, shown along the right hand edge ofthe window 14 in Fig. 3, as at 20.

Along the lefthand edge of the window 14 in Fig. 2 are shown the lines16 corresponding to the note identifying lines E, G, B, D, and F, of thestaff 11 and identified by those letters.

The lines 16 are continued at the right hand edge of the window as at17, and at this side the continuations 17 serve to mark olf the spacesbetween them lettered with the note-identifying letters F, A, C, E.

The notes above the treble staff, such as the note 18 in Fig. l, oneline above line F, are identified by the upper ledger lines 12, and thenote 18 is thus identified on the first upper ledger line A on the body10.

Any notes on ledger lines below the treble staff 11 are similarlyidentified.

Notes in spaces between the ledger lines 12 are simidevice larlyidentified by letters as G, B, D, F, in spaces between the lines at theright of the window 14.

The body 10 is also adapted to show, or to be shifted to identify bylines 19, and by the letters A, F, D, B, G, the names of the notes ofthe bass clef 13 as those musical notes are indicated, for example onthe bass clef 19 of Fig. 2.

To this end the body 10 of Fig. l would be shifted upwards until thelines 21 of the bass clef 13 coincide with the lines 22 of the bass clef23 of the sheet music shown in Fig. l.

Then the lettered lines 19, as shown in Fig. 2 point out the names ofthe notes, not only of the lines G, B, D, F, A, such as note 24 of Fig.l, but also the names of the notes between the lines such as the note25. The short lines C, E, G, point out the name of the note 26, twoledger lines above the lines 19, and also point out the name of the note27 in the space above the first ledger line marked B on Fig. 2.Similarly the Fig. 2 names the note 28 as E on the first ledger linebelow the staff of Fig. 1.

As mentioned above, the back of the device carries on the left side ofthe window 14 staffs of Sharps of every key, and alongside of each`staff is the capital letter naming the major key represented by thatstaff, and the lower case letter naming the minor key represented bythat staff.

At the top is shown the staff of key of C major or a minor, togetherwith its key note 30 on the first ledger line below the clef.

At the right edge of the window 14 are shown the staffs of ats of everykey, and alongside of each staff 3 isfancapitaltletter fnaming vthe;major key represented" by that staff, and thelower case letter namingthe minor key represented by that staff.

The cardboard body 10 tis preferably covered by a apparent-@sheetlfiwhich insuresy that L the edges. of lthe window 14 will not catch onzthenedgelof-:,anypage-on .which it .rnay eslide, andt'thessheet3,1 may,as :shown in Figvfcoverfbcth sideszof thebody10, Yandmlay serve `:to`protect body a110 1againstsoiling@especially if.the sheet 31 is asmooth transparent plastic material. V

,I t-yvi1lfbemoted that ,thetbolyil0lmay` be placed with its window 14over the key Lsignature n 11a-and .then it @hows the :names (of :all@the -shagps tor rflats sof the skey signature.

. SQmetimes -lthe zdandy ,10 ..-isv.colord fyellow aat :the sstai linesadjacent window, facilitating @the :liningfupfgothe bdvslfnmheeprintedstaff.

Having thus described one embodment'nf.theginvention whatfis @aimed is:

1. -Avk device: for Lreading .notes onsatmusicalstaff cemjgprising anvopaque card Ahaving an aelongated window therein, at least onestairepresentation extending tra-nsversely-iof said card :and havingaligned portions on each side 1of said window, staff Lline designationsalong one side .of said window-and-space .designations ,alongtheopposite side of said window, whereby When said card ,isnplacedronamusestai .to exposemotemthroughssaid window the designationcorresponding to said note may readily be observed.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the staff line designationsalong one side of said window form one column, ledger line designationsalong the same side of the window formingea column offset from saidstaff line designations, and in which the space designations along theoppositesdecoft'the V1wi1a'c1cnav form a separate column, and ledgerspacetdessignationsalong saidtopposite nfs`ide"for11iing `a." l11nmoffset "from said clumn of space designzticns.

RefereneesGite'd `intlliefeftl'xis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,183Gallegos July 25, 1893 29633501 :Harbo, ...v........... fDec. 1:8, :19362d-165485 sRegers July (25,

:FOREIGN PATENTS .136,874 Great vfBritain Dec. 17, 1 9 159 101,794Austria `Nov. 25,V 1925

